Making pie crust



MAKING PIE .CRUST Filed Jan. 11. 1929 INVENTOR MZ JW y M v M FM,

Patented Aug. 9, 1932 if, f Ai5 11cation;;mea marge, 1929. serial" must-s rhepresent ginvention'relates mg of piecrust, and moreespecially making ofa superior flaky crust, 7 a, It has been wellljrec ognizedltha' -fla i I v p 'pi cr t a pa i ularly-es na-qu ity and one 'lt'vliieh housewives aiidpie bakers strive to attain. The. pi tr st?!alses ibnrdjj; have tenderness or 's hdrtness'ia M W m wwithatoughcrust.5" 10 These desirable-Te alitie v 'beeen "diificult, if not imposs 4 to the I extent desired, l.becaus manner in which the ie'crust 'ha a, "formed from the pie dough.

Pie dough usually consists of f our ngredismm ly'; (fl r; ,'ig hbit iiig i a .v at a a water; iPiedough diii erjs If-romjlh'readfd mg he crustQfromr-the ldougli..iivithout comin that itlisfnot a rising'doughl ,somet mes pactingit." This is fpreferably done, as here- I a small amountof baking -powderliis added. ina fter more,iullydescribedfhy first forming to pie dough, butftlieamountl addedlisinot-Q' acylindrical"massfofdeugh 0f the required suflicient to makeit a rising;dtiiigh, andjthef sizegandftheiijlicing orjfeutting' from such baking powderha's a tendency Ito malzeltliei Inas'sof dou gh'thei'sheets of crust ready to be crust inealyflTherefore,.the univerjsallyfu 1'. applied toIth'efpie sL' ingredients of, 'pi efdoughfarethosement' i thedraw'in'g,'- I above, namely, "flour, salt -Figu1j ;.;1;isis 'd g mmatic perspective water." v e "fillustra e kpr eferred method of In the fak ng? sliemgoft't heet ofpie doughand cook iendeayq tp oiia sheet of pie dough a; f or use as apie crust.

I a h pielerustIpreferably follow then :11; 1e.,do1igh..recipes, the improvement H being primarily due to the process f n ng the pie crust rather than in he ag ei ie t yifl "lhe b tt rlql ality r e t 9un the-uppe ee-wryrmmi pen oer s ias he. i inal ma rial, thi sgbe,ing due, l,be lieve, tq hesdeleteri- 1 s: we? f fi e-r ir kiile n fillin of siepperiaws m terie -5: ;Qqnseqi en y, the baker has to take the upper crust trimmings 7 ndrus f them i the owe ustpie' dough,

Qthis, ;1 -ep1;es enting, i qn id eel ste of'the I i h r R i 'e mater flhaveo rcome the i wateru into the do doughlf asditt le possible the idouglfisfforined ff versal "custom 'f has een t' ough fo iflie 1n The rolling of the pie dong crust inevitably results in the,

1 il r ning and water.

cl iil le wellTlieloyv the normal room temperatuies, toiteinperatures in the neighborhood 0 "to Fahrenheit. The flour 'rst' mixed, as is the usual pracen the shortening and water are lgl) d Tito work the dough no more than was pe e 4 immtheedgeof iffg and water therein.

therefore use the usual arlousfi ingredients are preferably the flour in the usual way, care J 6 get the proper distribution of the These operations are preferably carried out with the materials chilled, as this contributes to the desirable qualitiesof the pie crust. The shortening, which may be lard or the various hydrogenated cotton-seed oil products sold under various trade names, is solid and fairly stifi when it is chilled.- If it is worked into the flour in the solidified state, the doughy mass is not compacted but retains a more open porous condition. The solidified shortening apparently exists in the dough as small segregated particles of shortenin and does not tend to wet the flour or to dlsplace the air, as is the case when the mass is at a temperature sufiicient to melt or soften the shortening so that it can flow. After the mass of pie dough has been thus formed, it is preferably formed into a cylindrical.,shape of a cross-section equal to the sizeof the ie crust desired.

The pie ough as thus molded into the desired shape is then preferably placed in a re frigerator and chilled, preferabl to a tempelature of Fahrenheit or be ow, -so that the mass is hard and stifi. The individual.

pie crusts are then'sliced of cut from such chilled mass. The mass can be stiffened by chilling to a point where it could not be satisfactorily rolled out, although the pie crust can be readily sliced from it in such condition.

The chilling of the mass of dough from which the pie crusts are sliced gives a stifi consistency so that the cutting operation can 'be readily performed. The chilling also holds the shortening ina congealed non-wettingcondition so that the cutting operation does not tend to compact the slices of crust as they are cut from the mass.

The result is that a light open crust contain n the maximum amount of air is formed mitia Upon baking the pie this results in a H tender crust. Apparently the air metal can or container 2 is filled with a mass of dough 3 which is molded thereby into the cylindrical form as shown. The container 2 wlth the mass of dough 3 is put into a refr gerator and chilled, After the dough is chilled, the individual round pie crust may be readily sliced therefrom. The container has a movable bottom 4 which may be gradually pushed up to extrude the mass of dough 3from the top of the container; The dough may be sliced off in sheets as it is extruded from the top of the container by any suitable cutting mechanism. or knife. In the illustrated embodiment a wire 5 is shown as the cutter.

In Figure 2 there is illustrated one of the complete round pie crusts 6 as cut from the mass of dough.

A wire-like cutter is preferred for slicing oflf the crusts from the mass of dough. The cutter wire may be a round wire, or it may be a ribbon wire. The expression wire or wire-like cutter is intended to define a cut 'ter of the character of a round wire or a flat ribbon wire, having a short cutting blade so as not to expose any extended" cheek or surface to drag against the dough, as would be the case with the ordinary knife blade. The mass of dough is preferably formed of the same diameter as that desired for the pie crust, thus minimizing; if not entirely eliminating, the trimming of the edges of the pies and the reworking and relegating'ofthe reworked trimmings of the inferior class of pie dough.

It will be understood that the showing in the drawing "is diagrammatic and that machinery can be readily adapted for extruding and cutting oif the slices of pie crust in commercial establishments.

While I have described in detail the various steps in my method of making pie crust, it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited but may be otherwise embodied and practiced within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making pie crusts which comprises forming a mass of pie doug m an open porous condition and chilled to a stifi ness at which the dough cannot be satisfactorilyrolled but at which it can be cut, and slicing from such chilled mass of dough pie crusts of a thinness suitable for use in pies and without subjecting the dought to compacting pressure, so as to thereby retain the open porous-condition of the dough in the completed pie crusts.

2. The method of making pie crusts, which comprises forming a mass of pie dough in a chilled open porous condition, and forming a pie crust of a thinness suitable for use in the pie by slicing itfrom such chilled mass and without subjecting the dough to compacting pressure and thereby retaining the open porous conditionof the dough inthe completed pie 'crust.

3. The method of making pie crusts, which comprises forming a mass of pie dough in a chilled open porous condition, and forming a pie crust of a thinness suitable for use in the pie .by slicing it from such chilled mass by means of a wire-like cutter and without subjectin the dough to compacting pressure and there y retaining the open porous condition of the dough in the completed pie crust.

1 4. The method of making pie crusts, which comprises mixing together the pie dough ingredients including the shortening in a congealed condition and forming a mass of pie dough, and while such mass is chilled so as to retain the shortening in a, congealed condition, slicing therefrom pie crusts of a, size and thinness suitable for use in pies and Without subjecting the dough to compacting pressure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ASHLEY F. WARD. 

